Step by step tutorial for using the kitchen!!

[GaMedic]

This tutorial is based on the ideas and methods used by the people in the ppcgeeks.com and xda-developers.com forums. Please read the entire tutorial before you start any part of the process. I wrote this tutorial for flashing a Titan device but the use of the kitchen is the same for the Apache except for the selections you make. Everything will not make sense at first but when you do the process it will all fall into place. I did not discover any of this, therefore I take no credit for the content. I just decided to put it all in one place. I have learned this information from other users and from trial and error. I hope that by putting together a tutorial that the process is simplified enough so that everyone can "get what they pay for" from their device, instead of being limited by cell phone companies who want to decide what part of "our" device we can use and which part they wish to limit. Thanks to the developers here and over at XDA we can use our devices better and we even get to show off a little cool stuff.

A lot of people believe cooking a custom ROM is difficult and beyond there ability, but it is very easy. I am going to attempt to do a step by step guide to the Kitchen process so you can build you own custom ROM and "pimp" your phone just the way you like it. I will give instruction on using the ppckitchen.org kitchen. I am not a windows mobile guru of any kind so there may be some mistakes in this tutorial. Use these instructions at your own risk because I won't be responsible for you breaking your device. If you have questions do a search or post them in this thread and someone will attempt to help you. If I am wrong on any of this documentation, don’t worry someone will point it out and I will be glad to edit my post.

The following information is a tutorial on using the kitchen to build you own custom ROM. If you choose to use a pre-made ROM just search around and install them per the instructions on the thread.

1. To begin the kitchen process you need to point your browser to http://ppckitchen.org/downloads/BuildOS.msi to download the installer. Once you have Buildos.msi downloaded just run the installer.Make sure you installto the default location.
2. After installation you should run the Updater found at Start->Programs->PPCKitchen->Updater.
When you run the updater it will give you a list of files you can add to your kitchen. You just choose the correct base for your phone whether it is a Titan, Apache, Vogue etc. The next thing to decide is which version you want. (20260, 20270, 5067 etc.) The PPcgeeks_OEM.rar, freeware and the shareware selections all have programs you can select to add to you device. Choose all the files you want added to your kitchen and hit next. The update process takes a while to run; especially the first time you run it. Once you complete this step you will be ready to cook.
3. Go to Start->Programs->PPCKitchen->BuildOS. A sign on screen will open (screenshot). Use your ppcgeeks screen name and a different password that you can remember for future sign ons. The program will open to a selection screen. Select Titan_WM6.1_20270 Selections, Apache selections, Titan_No2Chem_5067_WM6.1 Selections or the selections for whichever base you're using (Screenshot). The kitchen will take a few seconds to load and the basic selections will be made for you.
4. Select you carrier in the carrier dropdown menu located on the top bar. For Apache users you will need to select your bootloader version from the RUU dropdown menu. ( Screenshot showing where to select carrier and make other selections)
5. Select the items you would like to place into you ROM, meaning programs, games, etc… that you want on your PPC. You can select a section tab in the left hand pane to go to that particular section or you can start on the right pane making selections and work your way down the screen. Be careful not to select too many programs or you may build a ROM that won't boot up because of size. This is more of a problem on the APACHE. You can start with a few items and then add later to figure out how much you can stuff in. I recommend starting small just to get the feel of the process. If you are not sure what one of the programs is you can select the item and right click with you mouse. Go to visit homepage or OEM info and out will find the program information.
6. Once you have selected all your items click on the green arrow in the top left of the kitchen. This will start the build process. You will see the build process in a separate screen called build status. Don’t open any programs on your PC while this process is working. It will take a couple of minutes. Once the build process is complete you can simply follow the onscreen prompts.
7. The update utility will start. At this point place your phone into boot loader and plug your USB cable to the computer and phone (you can just hook it up and it will force it to bootloader for you once the process starts). You will see a series of screens that will ask you to confirm your selection to flash your ROM (Various screens you may see: 1, 2, 3, 4). Just confirm and allow the flash to begin. Do not unhook you phone during the process. You will see another screen with a progress bar as the ROM is flashed. After the process reaches 100% you will be notified that the process is complete. When it completes, unhook your phone and perform a hard reset. This is done by holding down the 2 soft keys (located above the Send/End keys on the front of your PPC) and pressing the reset at the same time. A screen will come up asking to confirm reset by pressing Y. Open your keyboard and hit the Y key. Then hit the spacebar when it says to do so. Your phone will reboot. You should always perform a hard reset after flashing a ROM. The boot process takes a while after a new ROM flash so be patient. Do your screen alignment and other items as prompted and you are set. At this point you should have your phone upgraded.
As you can see the process is pretty easy. You can repeat the same process anytime you want to “tweak” your phone with whatever you want to have on it. As stated earlier this thread will be updated with any corrections the moderators or senior members point out. Moderators feel free to edit this post as you see fit. This is a very basic tutorial but I hope it helps some of you.

Legend: Topics,Screeshots, Links to web sites, Important information,Edits.

[GaMedic]

Definitions(thanks gguruusa)


The following basic definitions are needed to load ROMs/use the kitchen:

HTC - the manufacturer of the 6700/6800/Touch/Tilt/et al.

Apache = PPC6700 = 6700

Titan = PPC6800 = 6800 = Mogul

(soft) Reset - there is a small whole on the bottom of your PPC, just to the left of the usb connector - it's the reset button. Use your stylus to push it. Your screen will go dark, then about 3 seconds later will show the boot splash.

Hard Reset - hold the left and right - buttons in (located just above the connect/disconnect phone buttons) at the same time as you push the reset button. It helps to hold the phone upside down in the hand that's pushing the - buttons, and use the stylus with your other hand to push the reset button.

Bottloader Mode (APACHE) - power+cassette/notes+reset - the power button is on/off button on the top of your phone. The cassette/notes button is the top button on the left side of your phone - it has a picture of a cassette tape on it, if it hasn't been worn off. Hold all three buttons in for about a 1/2 second, and the screen will go dark and stay dark. If you look closely, preferably in a well lit environment, you'll see some Serial or USB in the middle of the screen. Below that is a version number. You are in bootloader mode, and the version number is your bootloader version. YOU MUST KNOW YOUR BOOTLOADER VERSION BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO FLASH OR BUILD A ROM.

Bootloader Mode (TITAN et al) - power+camera+reset - the power button is on/off button on the top of your phone. The camera button is the bottom button on the right side of your phone - it has a picture of a camera on it, if it hasn't been worn off. Hold all three buttons in for about a 1/2 second, and the screen will go to a tri-colored screen. You are in bootloader mode. You must unlock your phone to load custom ROMs (it is necessary to unlock your phone only once during the life of your phone).

ROM - there are 4 types of Roms, but the two most commonly referred to are the OS ROM and the Radio ROM. Unless explicitly stated, ROM refers to the OS ROM. The OS ROM has WM5/WM6 on it. It is the OS ROM that gets updated frequently. Radio ROM updates are rarely needed, ExtROM updates are never needed, and bootloader ROM updates (updates that change the bootloader version) are discouraged heavily - bootloaders are a rare case where older is usually better than newer.

Ext ROM - this is a extra partition that contains carrier branded software. If you are using a custom ROM or the kitchen, you do not need anything that the carrier installed here - you may use it as extra storage. This storage area is not erased by a hard reset, but it is normally "locked" (hidden, read only). Some software does not behave as expected when the Ext ROM area is "unlocked".

nbf/nbh - these are different ROM encoding methods. Your phone REQUIRES a specific method. Most people do not need to know anything about nbf/nbh or encoding methods.

RUU - this is a piece of software from HTC. The kitchen includes it, as do many ROM distributions.

Kitchen - the place to make your custom ROM. The kitchen is a collection of various software tools that assemble your ROM and start the flash process. There are currently two flavors of kitchen, the original Bepe .9 version, and the newer .9.5 Bepe/PPCGeeks version. The .9.5 version currently only supports the Apache/6700 - it will not work properly for other phones.

Custom ROM - a particular OS ROM, almost always built from the latest kitchen. Distributing custom ROMs is discouraged - it is easier and less costly to distribute the kitchen modifications necessary to build a given ROM.

PagePool - cache for executing programs. This is an advanced subject. There's little reason to mess with it for most people.

OEM (module) - add-in programs to the kitchen and/or add-in customizations. There are lots and lots of OEMs - the most common freeware ones are in the PPCGeeksOEM.rar distributed as a kitchen add-on.

.NET 1.0/2.0/2.0SP1/3.5 - various flavors of the PC .NET package from Microsoft. Available from Microsoft as a free download. .NET 2.0SP1 or later is required to run the newer BuildOS (v .9.5)

.NET CF 1.0/2.0/3.5 - the PPC equivalent of the PC versions of .NET. Require by some PPC applications.

DO NOT LOAD A ROM FROM ANOTHER DEVICE ON YOUR PHONE.

DO NOT UNPLUG THE USB CABLE WHILE FLASHING. It's best to not touch anything at all while it's flashing. Don't run other processor intensive software (like games) while it is flashing, either.

Legend: Topics,Screeshots, Links to web sites, Important information,Edits.

[GaMedic]

Wow over 260 views with no responses. Guess no noobs around anymore.

[A_Pickle]

I'm a n00b.

[PDAPhoneJunkie]

Watch mvideos on flashing. Link in my signuatre.

[A_Pickle]

Okay, so... if I'm understanding your glossary... an OEM is just a free piece of software that you can add-in to your ROM?

[PDAPhoneJunkie]

An OEM is a peice of software that doesn't take up storage space, only the space that is provided for your ROM. Not all of the OEM's are free however, some of it is shareware.

[gambatte]

Yup. You can make your own, too.
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index...age%20Tutorial

[PDAPhoneJunkie]

Yeah that's a good one. But I preffer to add most programs throgh cabs as sometimes when I cook in a lot of junk I get rom issues.

[gambatte]

Yeah, agreed. But some ppl get real lazy and try to cram everything they can into the ROM. That way, when they do a hard reset, everything is loaded. But that has a bad effect on ROM size and stability. It is definitely a tradeoff. I guess better to do an image/clone backup.